I assumed "White Nights" by Dostoievski would be about sleepless nights and troubled minds. How wrong I was!
The story unfolds on the streets of a 1840s Saint Petersburg, where dreamer wanders contemplating his solitude. He encounters a young woman in tears, and through her, he starts to discover emotions he'd never felt before. This friendship lasts only four nights, as the author probes a central question: Is temporary, fleeting love possible? Alongside unrequited, one-sided love, he explores the fragile dynamics between people and the pain of the human condition.
About halfway through, I realized the narrator's name had never been revealed. My curiosity was piqued. As it turned out, it was never mentioned. Hers, however, appears 138 times.
"White Nights" feels like a love letter to the lonely and broken. It's a wake-up call to reality for those trapped in their minds, preferring to live in their dreams.
Here are some of my favourites quotes - soft and heartbreaking at the same time.
1. I shall be dreaming of you all night, a whole week, a whole year.
2. I don’t know how to be silent when my heart is speaking.
3. I once shed tears over memories...
4. My God, a whole moment of happiness ! Is that too little for the whole of a man's life
5. Why, one thanks some people for being alive at the same time with one?
6. You know it will be sad to be left alone, utterly alone, and to have not even anything to regret.
-AE
